# Tabor College (Kansas)

Tabor College is a private Mennonite college in Hillsboro, Kansas, United States. It is owned and operated by the U.S. Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches and adheres to Anabaptist doctrine. There were 594 students enrolled at the Tabor College Hillsboro campus for the Fall 2014 semester. Total enrollment, including the Tabor College School of Adult and Graduate Studies in Wichita, was 766.

## History

In 1908, members of Mennonite Brethren and Krimmer Mennonite Brethren Christian churches founded Tabor College. Tabor held classes for the first time on Sept. 14 of that year. The college’s earliest academic focus was business, science, education, and Christian ministry.
The college faced possible closing after a fire on April 30, 1918. Two years to the day, the college officially opened the H.W. Lohrenz Administration Building and the Mary J. Regier. Both buildings still stand on campus.
In the late 1950s, a major structural expansion began. It included, but was not limited to: a new library and gymnasium and the opening of three new men’s (California, Nebraska, and Oklahoma) and four new women’s (Ediger, Regier, East, and West) residence halls. New residence halls include the Townhouses, Harms Hall, and Jost Hall.
The Solomon L. Loewen Natural Science Center opened in the late 1990s, and after the Wohlgemuth Music Education Center gave the arts a home in 1983, a sizable expansion opened in 2017 with the addition of the Shari Flaming Center for the Arts. The Shari Flaming Welcome Center opened in 2020 and the Shari Flaming Education Commons in 2021.
Athletic facilities include Joel H. Wiens Stadium, Pendery Athletic Center, Campus Recreation Center, Gymnasium, baseball and softball fields, indoor tennis facility and practice fields.
After opening a second campus, Tabor College Wichita, in January 1994, it relocated to the Hillsboro campus in 2019, where it integrated the classes and staff for its online and residential programming.
From its start in 1908, Tabor has operated with a Christian focus, including its mission statement, “preparing people for a life of learning, work, and service for Christ and His kingdom.”

## Campus

Tabor's main campus is situated in Hillsboro, Kansas, located approximately 50 miles north of Wichita, Kansas.

## Organization and administration

Tabor is owned and operated by the Mennonite Brethren Church.

## Athletics

Tabor College’s mascot is the Bluejay, believed to have been chosen by the college’s first yearbook editor, Renetta Schulz Friesen.
Its 18 varsity sports (and co-ed cheerleading) have competed in the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) since 1968-69. It is also a National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) member.
Varsity sports include baseball, football, softball, volleyball, men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s cross country, men’s and women’s golf, men’s and women’s soccer, men’s and women’s tennis, and men’s and women’s indoor/outdoor track & field.

## Notable people

* Donald Dahl, (1945–2014) – Kansas House of Representatives from 1997 to 2008, U.S. Navy.
* Paul Folmsbee- U.S. Ambassador to Mali under President Barack Obama & Donald Trump
* Dale Flaming, President of Sutter Instrument
* Bob Glanzer (1945–2020) – South Dakota House of Representatives from 2017 to his death from COVID-19.
* Jesse Harder- Kansas House of Representatives (1983-1992); retired educator
* Jarrod Goentzel- Director, Humanitarian Supply Chain Lab at Massachusetts Institute of Technology
* J. Mark Hiebert- President of Sterling Drug Co. (1950s)
* P.C. Hiebert- Co-founder of Mennonite Central Committee; first Tabor College chairman
* Rolland Lawrence – former professional football cornerback.
* Lane Lord- Women’s basketball coach, University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley
* Jeremiah Randall- Head athletic trainer, Houston Astros
* Theodore Schellenberg (1903–1970) – archivist and archival theorist.
* Bryce Unruh- Aerospace Manager in Space Sciences Laboratory, UC Berkeley; helped lead team who developed technology in NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope
* Martha Wall (1910–2000) - Christian medical missionary
* Jacob Webb (b. 1993) - Major League Baseball pitcher
* Roger Wollman (b. 1934) - United States federal appellate judge.